Hi guys im just wondering about interfaces with my T.I. Ive recently recived my T.I but im looking to expand my kit with other synths and drum machines etc....... so my question being is can i run my T.I through a firewire or usb interface or does it have to go directly into my laptop? im rubbish with stuff like this as im a begginer? your advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
Sadly, the TI software checks to see if you have connected the TI to a hub, and refuses to let you do so, so at the very least make sure that you plug the TI in directly. I have asked tech support on this forum to explain why the software checks for this, and nobody has given me an answer that I know of.
You have to be careful with USB hubs and audio gear. Generally, USB hubs don't respect the sensitive nature of audio gear and will treat the signals coming from it as non-critical. This is fine for stuff like a USB mouse, but when it comes to audio gear, timing is essential, and your USB data stream needs to be untouched. To date, I have not had a good experience hooking up any audio gear to an external hub when USB is concerned. You should try it out and see what happens since every bit of gear is different; if you get clicks, pops, or cutouts, you will know that you have a device that absolutely has to be connected to a USB hub built-in to your laptop.
I don't own a Firewire hub, so I can't speak to whether or not Firewire hubs work any better. My guess would be yes, since Firewire has always seemed like a remarkably better interface standard than USB (which makes me sad since USB seems to be "winning"), but that is all it would be - a guess. Anecdotally, the MOTU audio interfaces that use Firewire can be daisy-chained without issue, so that bodes well for Firewire hub-based systems. Again, try it out and see. With an external hub for either USB or Firewire, make sure you buy one that is self-powered (i.e. has a plug you have to plug in to the wall use it), since those tend to have fewer problems.
Rather than external hubs, hubs that connect to the internal motherboard of the laptop seem to be the best. I bought a PCI Express (a.k.a. ExpressCard) USB hub for my MacBook Pro since this should essentially be just as fast and reliable as a built-in USB jack, but I was unable to use the TI with it due to the fact that it still sees the PCI Express adapter as a hub. So, I use my built-in USB ports on my MBP for my Virus TI and my MOTU 828 mkII, and use the 4-port PCI Express hub for non-audio USB devices like my mouse. I also use some Bluetooth devices to free up built-in hubs, such as a Bluetooth keyboard. Anecdotally, I have tested out my MOTU 828 with the PCI Express hub and I have not had any issues with it so far; this is in direct contrast to attempting to route the 828 through a USB hub built in to my Dell monitor, which gave me clicks, pops, and dropouts. So, if you do go with a hub, try to use something that plugs in to the PCI bus directly (i.e. either a little card that slides in to the special opening on the side of your laptop - depending on what kind of laptop you have, you might not have one of these expansion slots). For reference, I got one of these from NewEgg.com: http://www.rosewill.com/products/1346/productDetail.htm . If you do have a slot, note that the ExpressCard slot is smaller than the old school PCI laptop slots, so make sure you check the type before you buy anything.
Good luck - post back with any more questions and to let others know what you ended up doing and what your experience was.
Quoted from maxim porges: "You have to be careful with USB hubs and audio gear. Generally, USB hubs don't respect the sensitive nature of audio gear and will treat the signals coming from it as non-critical. This is fine for stuff like a USB mouse, but when it comes to audio gear, timing is essential, and your USB data stream needs to be untouched."
In this case a newer Virus should have ADAT and WordClock connections, to sync Virus well tuned to a sequencer
For example: at the moments it's impossible to get in sync with RTAS, without those connections.
Still good works VST with USB, even sync and audiostream is not optimized without WordClock.
